Dewdrops, crystal clear and translucent, hung upon the spirit plants.

The Pearl Chicken’s pitch-black eyes darted around, searching for insects on the ground.

The yellow dog, Da Huang, lay sprawled at the doorway, his front paws crossed in a posture of surprising elegance.

With a creak, Jiang Chen, now fully dressed, pushed the door open and stepped out. With light steps, he walked toward the Spirit Farm while placing a bamboo hat upon his head.

Standing on the ridge between the fields, he extended his spiritual sense outward.

Instantly, information about the Spirit Rice, vegetables, Spirit Clover, and other spirit plants flooded his awareness. All the spirit plants were exactly as they had been the day before, with no changes whatsoever.

Seeing this, the corners of Jiang Chen’s mouth lifted into a faint smile. For a spirit farmer, there was no greater happiness than everything being normal.

However, he did not turn to leave. Instead, he removed his shoes and entered the Spirit Farm barefoot.

It was an early spring morning, and the temperature had not yet risen; thus, the soil held a faint chill. As this “outsider” disturbed the earth, the cold launched its attack. Yet, Jiang Chen did not possess an Earth spiritual root and was therefore unafraid of the cold.

Soon, he arrived before a stalk of Spirit Rice.

It stood about 1.2 meters tall. Heavy panicles of rice hung from it, bearing clusters of unripe green grains.

At this moment, Jiang Chen raised his right hand. As the spiritual energy within his body was consumed, a layer of cyan light began to glow from his right index finger.

Clearly, this was the low-level spell [Spirit Finger].

He gave a light tap on the Spirit Rice before him.

Gradually, a faint cyan light also appeared upon the rice stalk itself. Visibly, it stood even more upright. Unfortunately, beyond this, there were no further changes.

“Might as well try them all,” Jiang Chen thought, feeling no disappointment.

Next, he applied [Spirit Finger] to one stalk after another.

Sadly, a one-in-a-thousand chance was indeed rather low. In the end, without exception, none mutated.

Still, Jiang Chen did not give up hope, because he hadn’t yet tried the cabbages, chili peppers, and Spirit Clover.

So, patiently, he began working on these vegetables next, tapping them one by one.

Failure after failure.

Before long, he had finished with all the chili peppers and Spirit Clover. Only a few cabbages remained “crying out to be fed.”

“My spiritual energy is almost depleted,” Jiang Chen sensed his dantian sea.

Back in the Qi Condensation stage, consuming this much would have sent him straight back to his room to rest. Now at the Foundation Establishment stage, his spiritual energy lasted much longer.

After some thought, he decided to simply finish tapping the remaining cabbages.

But as he tapped away, suddenly came a ding sound.

Jiang Chen initially thought it was a system notification and glanced at his status panel. To his surprise, there was no change at all.

No, to be precise, there was one. His remaining Lifespan had decreased by a few more days, meaning he had aged slightly.

Sighing over time’s relentless flow, Jiang Chen searched again for the source of the sound.

Finally, his gaze settled on one particular cabbage.

Only now did he notice that this cabbage was twice as large as its neighbors. The ones beside it were individual heads; this one looked more like a cluster.

Without delay, he enveloped it with his spiritual sense.

The next second, information about this cabbage appeared.

[Mutated Cabbage] [Spiritual Energy Content Doubled] [Pest Resistance Doubled]

This lucky cabbage had gained two effects: early maturation and mutation.

However, no matter how much it changed, it could not alter one fundamental fact: it was still just cabbage. This thing had no other use besides being stir-fried or pickled.

Fortunately, it at least proved that [Spirit Finger] truly worked.

Subsequently, Jiang Chen tapped all the remaining cabbages with [Spirit Finger]. Confirming only one had mutated, he immediately plucked it from the ground with a pop.

It provided +4 days more Lifespan than normal high-quality vegetables.

“Da Huang, Pearl Chicken, breakfast today is very rich!” Jiang Chen called out, holding up the mutated cabbage and waving it toward the two little ones before walking to the irrigation ditch to clean it.

In no time, it was washed spotless. Of course, he didn’t forget to clean off the mud clinging to his feet either.

Then he went to the kitchen to prepare today’s breakfast.

A rapid thud thud thud sound rang out consecutively. Even the chopping board vibrated along with it. This mutated cabbage had even increased in defense after mutation. Chopping it wasn’t so easy; it required a bit more effort.

Half an hour later, a fragrant breakfast was ready.

Two fried eggs. A plate of stir-fried chili peppers with mutated cabbage. A pot of porridge made from mutated cabbage and Tier-2 Spirit Rice.

It might not seem lavish, but in reality, it was much better than what other spirit farmers ate.

Others had to ration their Tier-2 Spirit Rice carefully. Jiang Chen didn’t save any at all; he ate it every meal. Not to mention the mutated vegetables with even higher spiritual energy content.

The Pearl Chicken hopped into the room and made a beeline for the dining table. Getting close, it leaped up into the air.

Right at that moment, Da Huang came charging in, drooling profusely. Whether he didn’t see or did it on purpose, he directly elbowed the Pearl Chicken away mid-air.

Afterward, he even flashed an ingratiating smile at Jiang Chen, wagging his tail constantly as if seeking praise for his deed.

The Pearl Chicken’s chirps grew much weaker. Not daring to approach any closer, it shrank into a corner and watched pitifully from afar.

“You two!” Jiang Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

However, he didn’t play favorites, giving each their share, and generous portions at that—enough to fill them up completely.

When he took his first bite of stir-fried chili peppers with mutated cabbage and began chewing, Jiang Chen’s eyes immediately lit up!

This mutated cabbage was crisp, tender, and refreshing! With one bite down, juices swirled within his mouth!

Next came the mutated cabbage and Tier-2 Spirit Rice porridge! Its flavor was even softer and more delicate! The more he ate, the more fragrant it became; the more he ate, the more he wanted!

After finishing the meal, his belly was full and round, containing vast amounts of spiritual energy waiting to be refined.

Jiang Chen didn’t even wash the dishes; he directly returned to his wooden bed and sat cross-legged. Then, circulating the Evergreen Art, he began refining this spiritual energy within his body.

Time passed minute by minute. After roughly an incense stick’s worth of time, the refinement was complete. The spiritual energy within him had fully recovered, and even slightly increased!

Jiang Chen smacked his lips. “If I could eat mutated vegetables plus mutated Spirit Rice every day, I feel like I could reach Foundation Establishment perfection in less than ten years.”

Unfortunately, although [Spirit Finger] worked, the success rate was too low.

After washing the bowls and chopsticks, he quickly headed toward Stone Mountain. After all, there were still many mutated Spirit Rice plants left untried!

As he approached, a faint fragrance permeated the air. This unique scent belonged solely to mutated Spirit Rice. The riper they became, the stronger the aroma grew.

Currently, Jiang Chen had no way to prevent this. Fortunately, this place was extremely remote and sparsely populated.

Taking the familiar route led him into the cave, where he once again saw the mutated Spirit Rice plants.

The centermost mutated mother rice still shone with a brilliant golden light, appearing quite plump. Its entry hadn’t changed much. Jiang Chen felt it would remain so for a long time.

Soon, his gaze fell upon the surrounding daughter rice plants. They grew robust and healthy, without any problems whatsoever.

Jiang Chen decisively cast the low-level spell [Spirit Finger]!

Intense cyan light gathered at his fingertip. Starting with the mutated daughter rice plants, he tapped them one after another.

Unknowingly how much time passed as he tapped away, suddenly came a ding sound!

If he heard correctly, it seemed one mutated daughter rice plant… had mutated!